...nobody expects this Iowa squad to finish above 2nd or below 6th...
I will bet real big money Iowa is not in the top 5 come nationals.
Top 5 is going to be Penn State, Iowa State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, and nebraska in whatever order it ends up being, with Cornell and Michigan as potential wild cards in there because the
...and barring injury, that's where they'll end up.
I love TnT and have known them my whole life, but the one thing they've never been able to do is be healthy in March. Sanderson, Smith, Manning...love them or hate them their guys are always wrestling their best in March. Iowa as a team is ALWAYS totally banged up and limping into March looking like car crash victims. Kemerer was always hurt. Lee was always hurt, Marinelli was hurt at times, DeSanto, Murin, Cassioppi...and that was just from the single dream team we had that were actual natty team contenders.
That's not "just wrestling." If it was then we wouldn't be getting beat by nebraska, Cornell, Iowa State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, etc like we have the past few years. Penn State is the only team that should beat Iowa on if you look at rosters, but November, December, and January don't win you titles. Sure it helps seedings to win those duals, but if you want guys in the finals they're going to have to wrestle the best guys at some point anyway.
Gable was great because he reinvented the sport. That will never go away. But let's be honest, there wasn't anyone within light years to compete with and no NIL. carl sanderson is great
er because he not only can coach and recruit well (lots of money too), but his guys are at their peak in March.
